Paramount agreed to delay its pending Warner Bros. Discovery merger until next year in order for the lawsuit brought by several state attorneys general to play out in court, according to a Friday filing.
The merger was put on hold earlier this week after a judge granted a temporary restraining order that initially put a 14-day pause on the multibillion-dollar deal with the lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta pending.
“Today’s agreement is a significant win because the result is exactly what we have sought from the outset: a direct path to a trial based on the evidence,” a spokesperson for Paramount said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached.”
“Plaintiffs’ market definitions bear no relationship to the realities of today’s marketplace and cannot withstand scrutiny. We look forward to proving our case at trial,” the spokesperson added.
PARAMOUNT-WBD MERGER ON HOLD AFTER JUDGE GRANTS TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
“Our argument against this illegal merger is straightforward: When too few corporations have too much power in markets central to American life, it makes things more expensive, and it makes things worse,” Bonta told Fox News Digital. “Today’s agreement is great news for audiences, movie theaters, and the many people who write, build, and create the art, news, and entertainment so many of us enjoy. We are eager to continue to make our case in court and celebrate another tremendous win in our effort to ensure this unlawful merger never sees the light of day.
Paramount CEO David Ellison is seeking to acquire WBD in a $111 billion deal that was expected to close during the third quarter of this year, but Bonta is leading a group of 12 state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit challenging the merger. The lawsuit claims the megadeal would “lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.”
PARAMOUNT ADVISERS PUSH FOR CALIFORNIA EXIT AS STATE SUES TO BLOCK WARNER BROS DISCOVERY MERGER: REPORT
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District for the Northern District of California, claims that the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which holds that mergers that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly are illegal. Both sides argued their case last week but Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín waited until Monday to temporarily delay the merger.
The merger, which was set to close this year, is now being delayed until at least June 2027.
PARAMOUNT ADVISERS PUSH FOR CALIFORNIA EXIT AS STATE SUES TO BLOCK WARNER BROS DISCOVERY MERGER: REPORT
Paramount’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery would be a historic deal merging two major Hollywood studios under one corporate umbrella as well as all of their television networks, including CBS and CNN. Critics of the deal believe such a merger would crush the entertainment industry and lead to mass layoffs — some have also been vocal against Ellison and his billionaire father Larry Ellison, who is heavily financing the deal and a close ally to President Donald Trump.
Liberal critics in particular also claim that, as a result of the deal, CNN would be given a MAGA-bent to its coverage and it would be run by current CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who has been harshly criticized by some media liberals. The Paramount CEO has previously assured that CNN would maintain editorial independence following the merger.
This deal would follow Ellison’s $8 billion purchase of Paramount, merging the studio with Skydance Media.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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